What camera to take - a different story for once

[dirk_dom1]

<p>About fifteen years ago, I had bought the Nikkor UW 15mm f/2.8 underwater lens, for my Nikonos V. This is an ultra wide angle and the best lens in the world for underwater. I had never shot ultrawide before and the learning curve was extreme.</p>

<p>I went to the Red Sea in Egypt to learn to shoot it, after one roll in the pool.</p>

<p>After an exhausting and extremely frustrating week of trying very hard and making worthless images I suddenly had a breakthrough: I suddenly saw the underwater world in wide angle perspective. I started to make really good shots taking advantage of the extreme DOF and I didn’t even need my viewfinder anymore. I got the film developed every evening and the good images I got printed on 8 by 12 inches and I showed them everywhere. People wanted copies and every evening I spent until 10.30 in the lab, not daring to leave my negatives alone.</p>

<p>Another thing was, that once I had the wide angle composition look switched on, I couldn’t switch it off. Willing or not, I saw wide angle compositions until deep in the night and even with my eyes closed.</p>

<p>Because of all of this, I slept very badly.</p>

<p>I came home after a month with really good pictures, but with an intense disgust of photography. It was over a year before I touched a camera again. It had been a very serious lesson. BTW, after 30 years and a couple thousand dives of underwater shooting, I have 23 images which I consider good. I have no problem at all with that.</p>

<p>Now, the core of the story.<br /> About a year ago, I bought a Linhof Technikardan 6x9 rollfilm camera to shoot serious black and white with. The camera is just what I wanted in every respect. My wife and son live in San Francisco, I live in Belgium and I'm going there for six weeks this summer. I wanted to take the Linhof and got everything together: lenses, filters, spotmeter, Gitzo travel tripod (oh, my, was that expensive!!!), custom backpack.<br /> This Easter I was in S.F. with just a Hasselblad Xpan with the 45mm lens and I had a fantastic time, i even made a few worthwhile panoramic shots. In S.F. I go on five to seven mile walkabouts, shooting, about five hours a day.</p>

<p>Now, the Linhof.</p>

<p>I’m afraid I’m taking this camera to S.F. before I’m ready. I have almost no experience, all I did in serious shooting was ten days in Spain with it and I 'm afraid I take it because I ought to because I invested so much in it. I’m afraid that when I’m there I’ll be under great pressure to produce images and that it’ll be very stressing and it will make me feel miserable. S.F. in the summer is a very busy place and it may be very stressing shooting a technical camera there; it’s no comparison with the absolute calmness of Spain with Christmas at the coast and in the mountains. Maybe I’d better shoot the Linhof in S.F. with Easter.</p>

<p>The goal is to have a fun time and to take very, very good pictures. I can take my rangefinders, the Xpan and the Mamiya 7, they guarantee that. With them the process is very spontaneous and very relaxing. When I’m in the city, I can look for Linhof compositions, maybe even write them down with exact location and a little sketch every evening. Then, next time I’m in S.F. I can shoot them. My son and wife live there so I’ll be there quite a few times more. Meanwhile I can get experience with this camera. The 47mm of which I expect so much is equivalent to a 19mm and such a lens takes some time to master even for me: I discover compositions before taking the camera to the eye. With the Linhof with it’s set up hoohah that’s triple important.</p>

<p>Why don't I go practicing here, in Belgium? Well, the last two months I don’t feel like photographing here. I didn’t shoot any spring flowers, that’s the first time ever, but why should I? I’ll just make more perfect shots I’ll do nothing with. I could go to the Kalmthout heather, but I won’t shoot anything worth printing there. I 've taken so many shots of the Antwerp port and city i don't feel like doing it anymore. I’ll shoot in Spain or at the Atlantic coast or in the Ardennes. Then, in a year and a half, I'll have mastered the camera. I don't enjoy shooting the Linhof here, now. It may come, but I don’t know when.</p>

<p>When I truly master the camera, I’ll take it to S.F. Then I’ll be in complete control, very calm and relaxed and I’ll enjoy myself.</p>

<p>It’s of course also possible that after this stay I decide S.F. is rangefinder territory.</p>

<p>The less gear you take, the better your photography. I'm taking the Xpan with 45 and 90mm, for color work and the Mamiya 7 with the 43mm for black and white. That's it. 30 films each: about a thousand images, that's more than enough. it's decided.</p>

<p>Dirk.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

[Jochen_S]

<p>Sounds wise. - Isn't the 47mm more like just a 24mm? - I thought the crop factor was 2? Anyhow I wouldn't feel comfy in a big city with just a technical camera either. Enjoy your stay there.</p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p>The less gear you take, the better your photography. </p>

</blockquote>

<p><br />And you can make this statement for everyone because ... ?</p>

[BrianS1664879711]

I know it isn't universally true, but it's mostly true for

me too.

[Spearhead]

<p>What's useful for me is mapping out the interesting locations, finding access to difficult places, avoiding difficult situations, understanding local customs. I could write a book about that. I can write one sentence about the "gear" I take because that would be about how long I think about it. Once you reduce photography to gear, you've turned it into a technical exercise.</p>

[colin carron]

<p>Sounds like you are having fun with your photography. I hope you are sleeping better.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The less gear you take, the better your photography.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Obviously that is not quite what you mean as otherwise you would take it to the limit and take no camera at all. I take it you mean <em>'take as little gear as suits your photographic purpose</em>'. If you do mean that then I broadly agree, but with the provisio that we each have different photographic purposes and the amount of gear will differ accordingly.<br>

<br /> And as Jeff says, photography isn't all about the gear.</p>

[Robin Smith]

<blockquote>

<p>I have almost no experience, all I did in serious shooting was ten days in Spain with it and I 'm afraid I take it because I ought to because I invested so much in it.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Well, that is the root of the problem. You probably made some kind of mistake buying it in the first place. I somehow doubt that you will ever really get into using the Linhof as usually one starts enthusiastically and then the enthusiasm dries up. In your case you never started. For myself, having had a few systems running simultaneously in the past it is a such a relief to just have one camera system and to never have to think like you are having to do - although there are always questions about which lenses to take. It looks like you have discovered this too.</p>

[Dieter Schaefer]

<p>There appears to be a divide between what you say and what you do - you state "you want to have fun" but then you put the pressure on massively: "serious", "very very good pictures", "taking the camera before being ready", "be under pressure to produce", "very stressing" and on and on. How can you possible have any fun if you stressing yourself out like that? You raise your expectations to a level that you can't possibly match them ever. I can understand that if you were a professional under a dead line to deliver - but don't see the point to do so for self-assignments done at leisure for your own pleasure. What really is the issue if you were to haul that camera onto a five-mile hike and make only one picture? Or none at all? Sometimes, things just don't work out. I have taken my camera out eager to do something - and realized that it wasn't my day. Conversely, I have reluctantly taken one along even though I lacked motivation and inspiration, only to find something worthwhile to shoot - and the fun came while doing so. Quite often, I carry a bag of lenses and end up using only one of them. Then there are other times when I only take one lens and wish I had others with me - but I try not to let that spoil my day by focusing on the images I can make rather than the ones I can't.</p>

<p>Maybe Robin hit the nail squarely on the head and the Linhof is not "just what you wanted in every respect" - because if so, why wouldn't you want to shoot with it? Unless you shoot with it - what would it take to get you "ready", what would make you "master the camera"? If you don't feel like photographing - then don't. Take a hike a leave the camera(s) at home. If you don't enjoy the Linhof, let it sit in the closet or make the decision to dispose of it. Why all the agony and obsession?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The less gear you take, the better your photography.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>So, the proof is in the pudding - take the Linhof and one lens and take the best photographs ever.</p>

<p>On a more general note, that statement isn't a valid one at all IMHO. The trick is to take just what you need, not to obsess over what you brought or didn't bring, and to focus on making images with what you've got with you. It is true that too much gear can bog you down and hinder your creativity - your story above demonstrates that one amply. But your statement takes that to an extreme that is rarely, if ever, correct.</p>

[dirk_dom1]

<p>Very wise words, here.<br /> In Spain, I enjoyed the Linhof like I've never enjoyed any other camera. I got into some kind of ultra calm condition, and I immensely enjoyed creating the image. I didn't know photography could be like this.<br /> So, i think it's a camera for me. It's just that I don't feel comfortable at all taking it to San Francisco. That may be because I think the way I shoot it, with setting up etc etc, for me isn't compatible with this very busy city. It also may be that I'm simply not experienced enough to take the camera there. And i lack the self confidence. When I bought my 6x17 it was half a year before I had the confidence to shoot it, then I suddenly took it everywhere and made hundreds of shots with it.<br /> The camera, I have. i'll be back in S.F. in a year and a half. than it may have changed.<br />At the moment I don't feel in the mood to shoot the Linhof, or any other camera. I've had these not in the mood to photograph things before. it'll pass. I'm strictly an amateur, so, no big deal. <br /> Finally, I apologize for the less gear statement. I way overgeneralized. When I went to China, I had a rangefinder with a 15mm, an SLR with 28-105 zoom and an 80-200mm f/4L with me all the time. In S.F. last time did carry one camera, one lens, but I was there for six weeks. i had about four lenses with me. <br /> Well, thanks for the very constructive comments!</p>

<p>Dirk.</p><div></div>

[dirk_dom1]

<p>The Linhof in Spain.</p><div></div>

[dcstep]

<p>You worry too much.</p>